


Love Is Found Here

by Arrival_Of_Dawn



Category: The Last of Us (Video Games)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Awkward Conversations, Awkwardness, Being Walked In On, Established Relationship, F/F, Flirting, Fluff, Fluff and Smut, Humor, Hurt/Comfort, Joel is a good dad, Other, Valentine's Day, Valentine's Day Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-15
Updated: 2021-02-15
Packaged: 2021-03-16 10:27:26
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,906
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29452293
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Arrival_Of_Dawn/pseuds/Arrival_Of_Dawn
Summary: Dina shows Ellie one meaning of love.Joel helps her understand another.
Relationships: Dina & Ellie (The Last of Us), Dina/Ellie (The Last of Us), Ellie & Joel (The Last of Us)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 98





	Love Is Found Here

Exhaustion, soreness, and a stiff hitch in her elbow greeted Ellie as she came back from her patrol with Jesse. Pulling the rifle off her aching shoulder to switch sides was too arduous for Ellie to not realize she needed a break.

Sleep. That’s what she would do. She would sleep early and give her body a rest.

“You ready for the party tonight?” Jesse asked casually as he sidled up next to her.

“Party?” Ellie asked wracking her brain. It clicked. “Oh, shit. That Valentine’s thing right?”

“Yeah. It’s starting soon,” Jesse trotted towards the main street then pointed at Ellie. “I expect to see you there.”

“Or I can sleep early tonight!” Ellie called out.

Jesse either didn’t hear her or pretended not to as he kept jogging. With a sigh Ellie slugged her way down the street knowing better than to head back to her room where her bed resided. Temptation would be too strong and she would ignore the party altogether if she went home.

It didn’t take long walking aimlessly down the street before her name was called. Maria stood in the open doorway of the main hall where the party would take place.

“Patrol go well?” she asked.

“Well enough. Took out a group of infected to the west.”

“Good.” Maria took a look behind her then turned to Ellie with a look she recognized all too well. “If you’re not doing anything care to help us finish setting up?”

Ellie rolled her shoulder again but acquiesced. This was Maria asking after all.

“Point me where you need me,” Ellie said. As she stepped through the door Maria clapped her on the back.

“Thanks. We just need some help moving the remaining tables.”

Ellie waited until Maria was on the other side of the room before she let herself sigh. But she rolled her sleeves up her forearms to not catch on some of the splintering wood and began to push the nearest table towards the wall.

Her shoulders protested the action as did her elbow when she straightened enough to lock it. A swift curse and a little more force and the table was out of the way. It didn’t take long for her to move the remaining tables though a soft sheen of sweat beaded across her forehead anyway.

Maria was back, holding out a drink to her. “Thanks for the help. We’re just about to get started.”

Ellie took the drink and went to go sit in the furthest corner on one of the pushed aside tables. She propped herself up on top and took swigs of her drink delighted to find that it wasn’t any of that bitter stuff Joel liked so much.

Sitting was a mistake. Ellie’s limbs protested any sudden movement so even as the party kicked off she stayed glued to her seat.

The music was loud and jaunty and people were dancing and drinking with large grins and sharing chaste cheek kisses. A few less than wholesome kisses also took place not that anyone seemed to mind. Ellie still didn’t grasp the point of this holiday. It all seemed sort of juvenile and fucked up to celebrate. What about those who had lost everyone dear to them? Was this not a harsh reminder of that loss? Did it not make the emptiness feel more vast?

“I should have guessed I’d find you in the corner,” Jesse said as he approached her table.

Ellie shrugged and hid her face behind her cup as she took another sip. “Got me.”

Jesse leaned against the table and folded his arms as he gazed out into the crowd. “Dina’s looking for you, you know.”

Ellie’s heart pumped faster for a second. “I did not know that,” she said as casually as she could.

Jesse’s laughter was fond and bright. “Don’t let me stop you. I think she’s dancing, as usual.”

Ellie finally set her cup down doing her best to screw her face into a passive expression. “I’m not really feeling up to it.”

“Ellie!” Dina’s voice arced across the room. She glided through the crowd with more grace than Ellie expected . She didn’t stop. Merely reached out once she was close enough to grab Ellie by the arms and pulled her to stand. “Dance with me.”

Ignoring the creak in her joints Ellie muttered, “Don’t see much of a choice.”

Jesse’s laughter filtered behind her and with one strong armed push he had Ellie stumbling right into Dina’s open arms.

Dina dragged her into the middle of the room and grinned. “This feels familiar doesn’t it?”

The music was faster than the last time they had danced that was for sure, but the atmosphere was exceptionally similar. She wondered if Joel was somewhere in the room sipping a drink as she had been. Maybe she had picked up a few more of his mannerisms than she meant to.

“What are you thinking about?” Dina asked with a teasing smile. “Because it sure isn’t me.”

“Sorry,” Ellie replied sheepishly. “I’m here.”

Dina hummed and ran a hand down Ellie’s side. The touch was feather light and still somehow enough to set Ellie’s nerves alight. She was suddenly quite attentive as she waited to see exactly where Dina was going with this.

“I know how to get your attention on me,” Dina whispered.

“You have it,” Ellie said nervously as Dina’s hand skirted beneath Ellie’s flannel and touched the skin of her stomach. Her muscles jumped involuntarily eliciting a mischievous laugh from Dina.

“Dina,” Ellie warned. “You want to create another scene?”

“If anyone says shit you’ll punch them,” Dina cracked a grin.

Ellie couldn’t help but grin back. “Oh, I will? Didn’t know I was the violent one in this scenario.”

“Don’t pretend that you wouldn’t love to deck some asshole with a smart mouth.”

“You have a pretty smart mouth and I don’t want to punch you.”

“No. You just want to kiss me.”

Ellie’s heart leapt. “Guilty,” she admitted.

This was all Dina needed to hear apparently because she retracted her hand from where it had been resting on the skin of Ellie’s waist and began to drag her away from the dance floor. They ducked behind the bar and Dina pushed open the door leading to the storage room.

The door barely swung shut before Dina was kissing Ellie with all the pent up emotion of not seeing each other in a few days due to differing patrol schedules. For a moment Ellie couldn’t keep up. Dina’s hands were up her shirt again grasping as her flesh like a woman starved and she loved every moment of it.

Before Dina could lift the shirt off entirely Ellie pushed her back into a nearby work station. A small part of her brain told her that undressing here was toeing a line Ellie didn’t quite feel like going over. Not with the party music still so loud next to them. 

Hooking her hands beneath Dina’s thighs Ellie lifted and sat her atop the workstation. Dina laughed into their kiss and immediately hooked her ankle behind Ellie’s knee to bring her closer. Ellie stepped into Dina’s waiting embrace eagerly.

Ellie didn’t think she would ever grow tired of kissing Dina. She had so much life to her and so much energy and somehow always seemed to match Ellie head on. Her lips were a song Ellie wished she could play forever. She’d pluck at all Dina’s strings to get the most beautiful sounds out of her. She’d never tire of hearing the breathy keens, the giggles, and the moans.

One of Dina’s hands grasped blindly at Ellie’s shoulder. She hit a sore spot and Ellie groaned, loud.

Dina pulled back, trying to hold in a laugh. “Do you want us to get caught?”

Ellie rolled the shoulder noticing how tender the muscles really were. Dina’s eyes followed the motion and her gaze cleared.

“Are you hurt?”

“It’s nothing a little sleep won’t fix,” Ellie said and leaned back in for a kiss.

Dina put a gentle hand against Ellie’s chest. “I have a better idea. Why don’t we get out of here?”

“Oh!” Ellie breathed. “You mean?”

Dina nodded, biting down on her lip.

“Yeah, yeah, sure.” Ellie helped Dina hop off the workstation then took her hand. “Let’s get out of here.”

The walk to Ellie’s building was full of grasping hands, light kisses, and laughter. Once they tumbled inside it was all over. Everything became unbearably hot. Every kiss felt like lightning especially the ones trailed down the length of her body. She was being devoured in every sense of the word, succumbing to the absolute beauty that was Dina and her mouth.

Dina delighted in torturing Ellie. Bringing her close to the edge just to pull back and watch her curse. It was infuriating. Yet Ellie adored the powerful expression Dina wore in these moments. 

It didn’t take long for Ellie to flip them, wanting to smother Dina in all she could give. Her taste was intoxicating as she ran her tongue over the places that really made Dina squirm and moan. She pulled apart Dina’s legs, held her thighs apart and did all she could to elicit the delicious noises of Dina coming undone. One particular swipe of her tongue mixed with Ellie’s deft fingers and Dina’s voice hit a pitch she hadn’t heard before.

Eager to hear more Ellie pressed Dina further, listening to each sound she graced the room with until it became too much. Dina pressed Ellie’s head, thighs quaking, and tried to push her away.

“Ellie,” Dina groaned. “Let up.”

“You can give me one more,” Ellie said with a devious smirk and dove back between Dina’s legs.

And she was right. Dina came down with a shiver, chest rising and falling breathlessly.

As Ellie came to lay beside her Dina shoved her shoulder ignoring the way Ellie feigned pain.

“You’re proud of yourself aren’t you?”

“Yes I am. I think that’s a new record.”

Dina rolled her eyes. “Give me a minute. We’ll see who’s all smug then.”

“Still going to be me,” Ellie said and rolled on her side to place a gentle kiss against Dina’s neck.

Side by side like this Ellie was truly able to appreciate the facets of Dina’s face. That was until Dina turned to kiss her back and gently held her there suspended in a state of content euphoria.

“Ellie? You in here?” Joel’s voice came through the door a moment before it creaked open.

Dina and Ellie pulled apart, eyes wide and fearful. Ellie’s heart beat erratically in her chest in a distinctly different way than it had been a few minutes prior.

The door opened pouring light inside and the sound of Joel’s boots scuffed the entrance.

“Shit!” Dina dove under the blankets.

“Joel, what the fuck?” Ellie yelled. “Don’t come in!”

Joel paused halfway through the door and peered inside. The room was dark and it took a few moments for his eyes to adjust. Once they did his face fell for the split second Ellie could see before he abruptly turned around.

“Sorry. I’ll--uh I’ll come back later.”

The door shut with a loud snap and the room was plunged into silence. Ellie leaned her head back with a low exhalation and stared at the ceiling.

Dina was the first to break the silence with a small snort that soon broke into a full laugh. It was so infectious Ellie had to join if not a bit miserably.

“This isn’t funny! I’m going to have to talk to him.”

“And we know how good you both are at talking to each other,” Dina snickered.

“Shut up,” Ellie said and pushed Dina over. She rocked slightly before settling back at Ellie’s side. “We’re getting better.”

“I guess I should get dressed and let you get that awkward conversation over with now before you chicken out and let it build up into something more than it is.”

“I would not do that,” Ellie protested.

Dina sat up and stretched. “I’m not taking any chances.” She tossed Ellie’s shirt at her face. “Now get up and go talk to him.”

Ellie groaned. “All I wanted to do was sleep. Fuck.”

Dina leaned over and gave Ellie one final chaste kiss to her lips. Ellie tried to chase the kiss, keep Dina there a moment longer, but she pulled back and shook her head.

“Technically…”

“Don’t. Only I can make bad puns.”

Dina was dressed quickly and ready to head out. “I’ll see you tomorrow. I asked Jesse to switch patrols with me. Don’t wait too long to talk to Joel.” She left with a parting wink and was out the door before Ellie could say anything.

That left Ellie sitting at the edge of her bed going over every thing she could possibly say to Joel that would get the conversation over with as quickly as possible. She didn’t want to do this.

_Fuck._

Finding Joel was easy. He was back at his house strumming his guitar outside to some nameless tune that sounded eerily familiar to the first song he ever taught Ellie.

He glanced up when her boots hit the creaky step on his porch. She could see the way he tensed upon seeing her and with a low sigh he set his guitar aside.

Ellie scuffed her boot against the floor decidedly looking anywhere but at Joel’s face. She really didn’t want to do this.

Joel was the first to speak. “I see you really got into the spirit of Valentine’s day, huh.”

Ellie’s gaze snapped up, confusion written all over her features. “What?”

Seeing the confusion on her face Joel chuckled lightly. “Valentine’s day was big for lovers. Lots of October babies back in my day…but you don’t have to worry about that.” He coughed and then muttered a quick, “thank god.”

“Oh fuck me,” Ellie whispered bitterly under her breath.

Joel met her gaze head on as he said in earnest. “I’m sorry by the way. I didn’t mean to walk in on…that.”

Ellie ran a hand down the front of her face. “No. It’s…whatever. Can we just pretend this never happened?”

“Gladly,” said Joel with a smile.

“What did you want anyway?”

Joel’s eyebrows scrunched together for a moment before he remembered. “I have something to give you.”

Now it was Ellie’s turn to be confused. “What? But I thought this was a gross day for couples and stuff.”

“You didn’t seem to mind the ‘gross couple stuff’.”

“Joel!” Ellie cried, face flaming.

Joel’s laughter was boisterous and far too pleased. “Couldn’t help it, kiddo.”

He rummaged around in his coat pocket then pulled out a small wrapped parcel with Ellie’s name scrawled across the front.

Ellie took it then looked at Joel sadly. “I don’t have anything for you.”

He shrugged and motioned for her to open it.

She ripped apart the paper as neatly as she could which was easy because Joel had wrapped it somewhat messily along the bottom edge. She slid out what looked to be a small chocolate in the shape of a lopsided heart and a larger wooden rocket that matched the pin on her backpack. It was complete with the fire spewing out the jet engine and everything as it looked to be headed for space.

Ellie gripped it tight in her fingers, nearly trembling.

“I know it’s nothing special. I’m better with wood than I am chocolate, but I had some help so it shouldn’t taste terrible.”

He was rambling a little. A sure sign of his nerves. Something he rarely showed, but for her…

He always gave her all he could.

“Joel, this is perfect,” Ellie said. “Thank you.”

Joel’s smile was tight, but he nodded and picked back up his guitar. “Want to hang around a bit? I can play something for you. Or if you want to get back to Dina you can.”

Ellie sat down in the chair next to his holding her gifts close in her lap. “Actually, can I play you something?”

Joel’s eyes widened, but he nodded and handed the guitar over.

“Don’t laugh. It’s not finished…”

And Ellie played him a song she had been working on for far too long. A song she had been writing for him, but was too afraid to share. Something about tonight felt right even if it wasn’t perfect. And maybe she suddenly gleaned a little more understanding into what she thought was a dumb holiday. There was more to it than she suspected. Something beautiful and warm. And she found it in Dina’s arms and in the love Joel poured into his creations for her.

Ellie was a bit of a mess at times. And her relationship with Joel was still on the mend. The song itself had almost felt like a betrayal of her previous agony and rage. She was trying. Trying to make amends for the man that continued to do all he could for her.

As Ellie strummed the guitar, humming softly to the unfinished tune of lyrics she had yet to write, she felt a little more of her heart open back up to Joel.

She once feared she would be alone. And now she knew that was far from true. She had all she needed.

Her heart felt fuller.

Ellie felt lighter.

**Author's Note:**

> This might be the quickest story I've ever gotten out. I'll go through and check over any edits later, but it's a Valentine's fic so I'm posting it now before the day ends!
> 
> This holiday isn't just for lovers. It's for your friends, your family, and most importantly yourself.
> 
> Find me on twitter for this writing account. I post updates (as well as stuff I love) and you can come talk or support here!  
> [Twitter](https://twitter.com/Arrival_of_Dawn)


End file.
